longform_journalisms_place_on_the_webfandomcom-20200214-history
Introduction
In 1887, Nellie Bly went undercover in a women's mental institution in New York. She was investigating allegations of brutality and misteatment, so she was involuntarily committed after she faked "going insane." Her findings were published by the New York World, ''and a subsequent investigation was launched by a grand jury. Since then, people like Upton Sinclair, Hunter S. Thompson and Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein used investigation, narrative and essay-style journalism to expose corruption in this country. Today, this style of story is often referred to as long-form journalism, and it is an essential part of the media landscape and national conversation. Academics and professionals in the journalism field debate whether there is a place for long-form journalism on the web. It's said that our attention spans are too low, and that we can not think deeply enough on the web. Critics of online long-form journalism say that a computer isn't a practical way to consume longer pieces. Most importantly, it's said that there isn't an audience or money in long-form pieces. Yet, there are still numerous examples of long-form pieces making noise. For example, the late Michael Hasting's piece for ''Rolling Stone, The Runaway General, resulted in the firing of General Stanley McChrystal. Furthermore, his profile of Bowe Bergdahl , the soldier that the United States rescued from Afghanistan last summer, is recognized as the go-to story on the soldier, who deserted his troop in 2009. He was working on similar pieces for and had just been hired by Buzzfeed when he died. This form of journalism is essential to the American media landscape. So, is the age of bite size news upon us, and is long-form journalism really dead? Or is the issue just in the name? ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine ''has brought numerous long-form sports stories to life since the advent of the web. They have used Yes, these ESPN entities have been hugely influential, influencing ''New York Times' Snowfall, in the reemergence of longform— just don't call it that around Chad Millman, editor in chief of ESPN the Magazine. "Long form has existed for years and its called story telling and magazines and newspapers have been doing this for decades and what happened is, and i hate this phrase in the digital age, the way people consume media now, things are much shorter and its much more consumable in small bites. the metabolism is shorter. and because of that people decided, 'hey, I'm doing something that's longer and longform sounds like its elevated. so now all the sudden theres things coming out, oh hey we're a long form site. I'm like, dude, it's called doing what magazines do. so i find the term to be unbelievably irritating." James Bennet, editor in chief of the Atlantic, agrees . The Atlantic ''also has a great reputation for long form pieces, but Bennet is sick of that title. "I have had it with long-form journalism. By which I mean—don’t get me wrong—I’m fed up with the term ''long-form itself, a label that the people who create and sell magazines now invariably, and rather solemnly, apply to their most ambitious work. Reader, do you feel enticed to plunge into a story by the distinction that it is long? Or does your heart sink just a little? Would you feel drawn to a movie or a book simply because it is long? (“Oooh—you should really read Moby-Dick—it’s super long.”) Journalists presumably care about words as much as anyone, so it is mysterious that they would choose to promote their stories by ballyhooing one of their less inherently appealing attributes. Do we call certain desserts “solid-fat-form food” or do we call them cakes and pies? Is baseball a long-form sport? Okay, sure—but would Major League Baseball ever promote it as that? So why make a ripping yarn or an eye-popping profile sound like something you have to file to the IRS?" Certainly, the issue isn't just in the name. There is the argument that we are no longer attentive enough to enjoy these type of pieces. Most important to the business people in the newsroom, people say that these type of pieces can't make money. This wiki is designed to look into the state of long-form journalism?